Keeping her position, Slyvia continues
to scan the surroundings forest for any more of these horrifying monsters.She yells out to the others, “We
can't keep a fire going in this downpour, move the bodies under my
shelter and we can burn them there.”

“I've
got greek fire and lamp oil both in the satchels on my mule,” Kjira yells out
from her new position.

As
Lucas is removing the stopper from the first of Dolak’s oil flasks, Kryian
interjects.“Slyvia has a point,
lets drag the bodies to a shelter where it is dry and THEN burn them.”

Dolak
pauses for a minute, weighing the options.Then, Cyzicus says, “Grab the first one, them come back for this one
here.”The halfling nods at the
second creature.“I’ll keep him
down.”The halfling stands poised
near the second creature; he holds his two short swords at the ready in order to
attack at the first signs of movement.His
raises his eyebrows as he notices the creature’s wounds closing before his
eyes.

Dolak
attaches his axe to his harness and then he and Kryian reach down to grab the
first creature.The two warriors
groan as the start to drag the lanky corpse toward Slyvia’s lean-to.

As
Dolak and Kryian drag the corpse away, Darius moves forward to kneel at
Alric’s side.He immediately
begins inspecting the fallen paladin’s wounds, and frowns at the massive loss
of blood that the warrior has suffered.

Zell
returns to the coals, hoping that the heavy rain hasn't fallen too heavily upon
the cold timbers.She searches for
anything warm to aid in lighting the oil.

Kjira
remains nearby, her quarterstaff held in the crook of her arm and her hands
freed for spellcasting.“Once we
have doused them in oil, I will use my magic to set them afire,” states the
lady mage.

“Ouch,”
groans Alani as she flops back down on the wet ground.“What hit me?” she slurs softly as her vision blurs in and out of
focus.The rain falling on her face
helps a little to revive her.She
strains doggedly and attempts to rise to one knee.Unfortunately, she is overcome by weakness and collapses back to the
ground, again.

Dolak
and Kryian groan under the weight of the dead creature as the drag it toward the
shelters.Lucas steps out of their
way, clearing a path to the shelters along the east side of the campsite.Seeing their way toward Slyvia’s shelter blocked by Alani and
Soft-Fang, they move the corpse toward Alani’s shelter instead.Slyvia sets down her bow and arrow and helps from the opposite side of
the shelter, grabbing the corpse’s arm and pulling and the other two shove the
body under the roof of the shelter.

As
the two warriors turn to head toward the second corpse, Dolak grunts to Slyvia,
“Better git ‘er pack out o’ that lean-to before we set these traligarn
‘afire!”Slyvia grabs the
Alani’s backpack and pulls it out of the shelter and back to where she has
been providing overwatch of the battle.She
leans her bow on the pack and then steps forward and prepares to help with the
second corpse.

Darius
reaches into a bag tied to his belt and produces a roll of bandages and some
herbs.As he begins to administer
to Alric’s wounds he yells over the rain to Cyzicus.“I have no further power to pray for healing.I will need your assistance.”

Dolak
and Kryian grab the second corpse and drag IT toward the shelter, as well.Once again, Slyvia assists as they shove its dead weight under the roof
and onto the corpse of the first monster.The
two warriors then turn and take a few seconds to work their way free of the
suddenly congested area in the southeastern portion of the campsite.As they do so, the two mages – Lucas and Kjira – step forward to the
lean-to.

Zell
moves toward the center of the action, finding a spot near the rear of the
group.

Cyzicus,
remains watchful as SEVEN members of the party – Lucas, Kjira, Slyvia, Zell,
Dolak, Kryian, and himself – focus on the action involving the corpses.

Lucas,
seeing the creatures’ wounds closing, hurriedly pours the first flask of oil
on one of the corpses.Then,
he reaches for the second flask.Kjira
stands nearby, her hands still ready for spell casting.

Darius
places several leaves of a strange herb in the open tear in Alric’s mauled and
bloody side.The leaves begin to
darken as they soak in the blood flowing from the wound.

As
Lucas readies the second flask, Kjira notices the first creature’s eyes open
as it begins to stir.“Look
out!” she cries, jabbing forward with her quarterstaff.The oaken shaft spurs the creature in the ribcage, resounding in a crack
as bones give way.The creature
howls in pain.

Working
quickly, Lucas pours the second flask of oil on the second creature and then
moves out of the way so that Kjira can cast her spell.He steps in the only direction that offers a path – toward Soft-Fang
and Alani.The wolf growls softly
as Lucas’ intrusion forces him to leave Alani’s side.

As
Kjira readies her spell, the first creature’s movements begin again.Kjira holds her hands in front of her, thumbs touching with her fingers
pointed at the monsters.In a
commanding tone, Kjira speaks a single word in an arcane language and a fan of
flames springs forth from her hands.The
flames ignite the oil on the bodies and the waking creature howls in pain as the
sickly smell of burnt flesh permeates the air.The flames also lick over the thatched roof of the shelter as well as a
nearby stand of saplings.Fortunately,
the rain-soaked wood fails to ignite.

Darius
frowns at the use of fire but continues to administer to Alric.The druid places a wad of cloth over the leaves and then begins to wrap a
bandage around the paladin’s chest, over his armor.

Meanwhile,
Kjira watches the smoldering corpses and notes that some of the bleeding wounds
are still closing.She readies her
hands and repeats the process.A
second gout of flames washes over the bodies.Once again, the wet wood in the shelter and the nearby trees remains
untouched by the magical fire.

Kjira
repeats the process two more times until she sees no more regeneration on the
part of the creatures.Unfortunately,
the fourth casting of the spell causes the shelter roof and the nearby trees to
ignite.Flames begin to lick at the
two areas ignited by the magical flames.

By
this time, Darius has completed wrapping the bandage around Alric’s chest.The druid looks up from the still-unconscious paladin and stares aghast
at the sight of flames consuming portions of the campsite and the forest.

Dolak
nods approvingly at the destruction of the beast.Then, he turns to the others in the campsite and yells over
the storm.“Everyone take a care,
I saw a rather large cat out there lookin' to have a snack out of the vanquished
or the tired victors.It may be
circlin' to come from behind, so keep a weather eye out.”The dwarf fingers his double-bladed battle-axe and eyes the surrounding
forest.

The content of The Sunset Vale Saga are the property and copyright of
Brian Flood,
and are not to be published or
redistributed without permission.